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Sven Sootbeard
Sven Sootbeard was the greatest prince of Zundrbar during its entire two thousand year existence. Sven Sootbeard's greatness came primarily through his free-market policies, which led to the rise of Zundrbarian classicalism- which combined the beliefs of Zundrbarian nationalism with the Zundrbarian School of Economic Thought. Sven Sootbeard abdicated from the throne in +1800 after the disastrous Battle of Zundrbar during the War of Three Hammers. This battle created a universal hatred of Dark Irons in Zundrbar and her colonies. The current leader of Zundrbar- Ghlafferge Sootbeard, has been attempting to follow in the path of Sven Sootbeard, however also making Zundrbar more realistic, as the gender pool of Zundrbar is too small for it to continue with population growth, as even when the first settlers came, the original five hundred Zundrbarians, there were more Zundrbarians than there are now, as there are only roughly three hundred Zundrbarians. ((WIP)) Early Life (+1400 to +1500) Sven Sootbeard was born on September 23rd, +1400, to his parents- Thorleif Hrothgarsson and Fjorleif Osfriddotter. His parents were from the line of Magnus- the line of Sootbeards which was created following the rule of the twins (Bjorn and Magnus), after which- Magnus relinquished control of Zundrbar to the line of Bjorn, believing his line would serve better as advisors. Sven immediately showed the prodigial skills that his line were known for. He was far above average in his leadership skills and understanding of both economics and politics. He was also known for his nationalistic tendencies and often referred to Zundrbar as, "The Fatherland." Sven's prodigial nature brought him close to the Prince of Zundrbar at the time- Bjarn, the last of the line of Bjorn. Sven's close connection with Bjarn brought him as the youngest advisor on Bjarn's advisory board, and by far one of the most intelligent. As the plague was ending when Sven was born, Zundrbar had large amounts of recovery to deal with, to account for nearly one fifth of the population dying. Bjarn died in +1500 due to old age, and due to the lack of a clear line following him- Sven's connections with Bjarn brought him to the throne, due to the fact he was deemed more experienced than his father. He also was supported by the majority of the civilian population, however his father would still serve as his advisor until his father's death in +1560. Bjarn died on June 29th, +1500. Coronation as Prince (+1500) Sven Sootbeard was coronated as Prince on August 31st, +1500, the traditional standard for the coronation ceremony. From June 29th to August 30th, a regent was put in place, which was Bjarn's senior aristocrat- Holdir Goldbeard, one of the royal clan of the Goldbeards. Early Policies (+1500 to +1504) Sven's immediate ascension to the throne was supported by both factions of the Nonconformist Reformation, and he vowed to stay out of the conflict. The reformation was deemed as a conflict among guilds, and therefore via the traditional pillars of Zundrbarian law-- Guild Law, Citizenry Law, Aristocracy Law, Executive Law, and Representative Law- Sven was barred from intervening. Largs Sootbeard, Sven's younger brother and a strong supporter of the Zundrbarian Engineering Guild and the Reformed Church of the Pantheon, constantly urged Sven to intervene. Eventually, in the final days of the Siege of Thelgen Rock, Sven agreed and set up the treaty and punishments for those involved. The archbishop of the Church of the Titans, Haerek Adamsson, was executed on May 21st, after the signing of the treaty on May 20th. The treaty was known as the Treaty of Goerg-Haamir, the Treaty of Gear-Hammer. In addition to Haerek, the funding clans- the Goldbeards, the Goldnoses, and the Goldhands, were all executed on May 23rd. On May 22nd, Sven contacted the Ankoer Bank to ensure that these clans could be replaced with loyalist clans, which they promptly were in the evening of May 22nd. Following the war, Sven was immediately demonstrated as a figurehead of the new ideals following the citizenry after the Nonconformist Reformation, which included a smaller government, increased liberal rights to citizens, and less regulation. Sven believed in these policies as a young child, and therefore Zundrbar entered a Golden Age as the citizens and the prince ruled in almost a democratic monarchy. Zundrbarian Golden Age (+1504 to +1750) The Zundrbarian Golden Age began after Sven Sootbeard's announcing of the colonial plans, as well as the increasing power of the Zundrbarian Engineering Guild. The creation of the Zundrbar Trading Co., which was led by Sigvald Sjolfsson of the Goldhammer Clan led to unprecedented creation of jobs, to the point where Zundrbarian job creation was starting to increase faster than its population. The creation of the colonies was to help expand Zundrbar for food production and natural resource gathering. The Zundrbarian people were pleased by these attempts, especially the formation of Zundrboek- by far the most prosperous of the land colonies. In addition to these colonial plans, disclosed in +1504, Sven Sootbeard started a new plan for sea colonies in +1510, which was disclosed in +1515 to the general public. The Voortrekkers who had reached Zundrboek had formed a solid colony, which stood as an example to the Zundrbarian citizenry how a colony can be successful and not require much attention from domestic inhabitants. After the formation of the colony of Zeebar and Zeedorf on the island of Zeeland in the Great Sea in +1520, Sven was able to begin empowering the citizens with more influence over the economy. In addition, he allowed for the creation of the Hill Dollar- a paper currency backed by gold, which was used in place of the traditional gold coins. The gold coins were easily malleable and required large amounts of inspection in order to determine whether they were false or not. The coins used by the loyalist faction in the days of the Nonconformist Reformation were known for being false coins, and therefore were smelted down for any scrap metal value at the end of the small revolution. Sven's reign immediately turned the Zundrbarian citizenry in favor of the Sootbeards, after Bjarn's reign had dropped confidence. Additionally, Sven's refusal to intervene in the Nonconformist Reformation also was a facet of Sven's reign that "started him off on the wrong foot." He was able to make up for it with his policies, giving larger amounts of independence to the guilds and citizens. Small businesses opened up which had deals with the guilds, as did independent small businesses, which lacked ties to the guilds, and were protected by law from the increasing power of the guilds, who were starting to push a monopoly onto the Zundrbarian economy towards the middle of Bjarn's reign, and continuing until around +1600, during which the Business Freedom (HD: Kaafer Vreehuid Luuw) was passed by Sven Sootbeard, after being approved in all of the three houses- The House of Lords (Aristocrats), The House of Commoners (Moots), The House of Representatives (Senate). For the next one hundred and fifty years, Zundrbar prospered as a glorious state until it started to stagnate in +1750. Decline (+1750 to +1800) In +1750, Zundrbar's mineral wealth, which had been powering the economic advancement of Sven's reign were starting to run out. Sven had ordered the Miner's Guild to aggresively mien at the minerals in order to fuel surging economic demand for the products. However, throughout the Golden Age, it was unsustainable as many geologists proclaimed that the minerals were running out. Additionally, many of the colonies failed in the Hinterlands, Gilneas, and Hillsbrad Foothills. By +1750, only one colony remained- Zundrboek, which had been running simply on food shipments. The isle of Zeeland had been invaded by goblins and abandoned in +1700 after the evacuation to Menethil Harbor and the formation of the community, "Hill Dwarves outside of Zundrbar." Sven Sootbeard's increasing age also caused him to become mentally weaker, and the emotional distress of the ending of Zundrbar's Golden Age placed large amounts of stress onto him. By the time of the Battle of Zundrbar, the Zundrbar Trading Co. had declared bankruptcy and the Hill Dollar was no longer sustainable with its gold converitibility. The Royal Geologist's Society had been convicted of fraudulent mineral data after it had been shown the previous estimates of another 500 years of minerals went down to around another 20, which left the battle as the final nail in the coffin. Fall of Zundrbar (+1800) The Fall of Zundrbar in +1800 took place as a result of the Battle of Zundrbar in the War of Three Hammers. The battle was a disastrous defeat for the Dark Irons, but a pyrrhic victory for the Hill Dwarves, who had lost 4,700 of the 5,000 denizens defending the city. During the battle, Sven had been known for serving on the front lines. After the trade lines with Zundrboek had been cut off, Sven immediately ensured price fixtures and had dropped the convertibility of the Hill Dollar into gold to allow for a fiat currency to be created to continue market activity. Abdication (+1800) Sven had abdicated around two days before the end of the battle, which left Folgrin Ironbeard as the de-facto leader of Zundrbar. The abdication was a painful decision for Sven, whose nationalism made him almost contemplate suicide at the thought of the end of Zundrbar. Sven abdicated with his wife, Dunhilda, and his son- Brahdic "Baird" in +1800. Remaining Life (+1800 to +1850) Sven lived for another fifty years in Kharanos with his wife, Dunhilda, whom which he had two more children with- Ghlafferge and Dorholm. He worked as an engineer designing the Thunderbrew Distillery, and claimed to hail from Dun Modr in the Wetlands. He was sure that Zundrboek had fallen as well, and that Zundrbar had fallen, and therefore believed he was one of the only Hill Dwarves left. He taught the tongue of Hill Dwarvish to his sons in secret and told them never to use it around commoners, and to always keep a secret supply of Hill Dwarvish goods. His father divided the goods evenly amongst them, however Dorholm, who strode far away from the other Sootbeards, striving to be more of a normal Bronzebeard dwarf blacksmith gave his goods to Ghlafferge. Death and Remembrance (+1850 to +2000) Sven perished after a mining explosion went wrong, alongside his wife, and three other prospectors- Moradin Steeltoe, Garragar Steelpick, and Baragor Hammerfist. Sven was always remembered in Zundrbar and Zundrboek as a great leader despite his abdication and other faults, including by the de-facto leader in his absence- Folgrin Ironbeard, who left control of Zundrbar to the citizenry after going out to find the next Sootbeard, Ghlafferge, who Sven had named in his letter to Folgrin, signed in +1800, the day before he abdicated, stating when to head out to Ironforge to find his son. Ghlafferge always remembered the image of his father, whom which he used a role model throughout his younger life, and still does to this day, as a person and as a leader. Category:Zundrbar Category:Characters Category:Sootbeard Clan Category:Wildhammer Dwarf Category:Dwarf